


Tiny Giraffe

by Corrie71



Category: Almost Human
Genre: Backstory, First Dates, Fluff and Angst, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-11-21
Updated: 2013-11-21
Packaged: 2018-01-02 07:06:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 977
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1053915
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Corrie71/pseuds/Corrie71
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Where did that tiny giraffe come from? (Spoilers for the first two episodes)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Tiny Giraffe

For their third date, Anna chose the zoo. John always preferred it when his dates made the choices about where to go and what to do. Much less pressure on a guy. He had to admit that the zoo was not really his usual speed. Still, he liked this girl—a witness on a case he’d cracked three weeks ago— so he went along with it. They held hands as they walked among the exhibits, enjoying caramel filled churros after their spicy fish taco lunch. 

“So, what’s your favorite animal?” John asked, enjoying the breezy day, the sunshine, even the shouts and squeals of the little kids as they dashed around.

“Guess.” Anna teased, with that enchanting giggle he was coming to adore.

“Pandas.”

“Nah, they’re cute and cuddly but kinda dull, you know?”

“Don’t like cute and cuddly then?” 

“I’m here with you, aren’t I?” She giggled again and squeezed his hand.

“So, what’s a cranky animal? It’s not something like squishy is it? Like a snake?” Anna laughed and shook her head. “Good, I hate snakes.” 

“No, it’s a mammal.” 

“The big cats?” 

“They are majestic, and can be cranky. But no.”

“Good. I’m allergic.” John said, as they walked around a corner into an overlook for the African Savannah exhibit. Anna smiled even more broadly as she surveyed the animals walking around in their simulated habitat. “Okay, so it’s gotta be something down there to make your face light up like that.”

“An excellent deduction, detective.”

John glanced down at the Savannah. Elephants didn’t seem like the right answer. The zebras were okay but basically a striped horse. Then he followed Anna’s gaze to the far corner of the exhibit. She smiled as she watched the giraffes gamble about, especially enchanted by the antics of one of the babies. She looked back at him, a broad smile on her face, and that was the moment that John knew, absolutely knew, that she’d won his heart. 

“So, giraffes, huh?” He laughed and leaned in to steal a kiss. 

* * *

Eighteen months later, John chose the zoo for a date. Once again, they ate tacos and churros, walking amongst the exhibits, holding hands and chatting, enjoying the sunny day. That night, Anna was flying out for a week-long business trip and John dreaded her being away from him for so long. He led them to the Savannah exhibit where they watched the giraffes for a bit. Finally, before he could let his nerves get the best of him, he placed an animal-tronic toy giraffe on the wide, flat railing and tapped its head. 

“John, he’s adorable! They’re so expensive.” Anna clapped her hands with delight as the tiny giraffe trotted toward her, tossing his long neck. She held out her palm and the giraffe stepped onto it. She raised the toy toward her and then stopped, staring at the sparkling diamond solitaire around its neck. She looked back at John, now on one knee. Before he could get the words out, she shrieked “yes!” He removed the ring from the giraffe’s neck and slid it onto her finger. Clasping the toy tightly in her hands, Anna flung her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply.

“I love you, John Kennex.” She said, tears of joy coursing down her face. He just smiled and kissed her again, too overcome to speak. He drove her directly to the airport from the zoo and, in the kiss and ride lanes, she handed him back the giraffe. 

“Keep him safe for me.” 

Other than that hazy, pain filled alley, he never saw her again.

* * *

When John came home from the hospital, weak, still drugged, still in pain, though the doctors called it phantom pain, one of the first things he saw was the tiny giraffe perched on his nightstand. He tapped it and watched it gallop around, biting his lip. Other than the giraffe, the engraved St. Christopher medal, and a long, rambling, happy message on his phone, Anna was nowhere to be found.

“Where is she? Where is Anna?” He whispered. Sandra covered him with a blanket and patted his shoulder. There had been no sign of her, nothing. She’d disappeared while he’d been in a coma, never coming to visit, nothing. Sometimes, at John’s worst moments, he wondered if he imagined her. He didn’t remember much of the day he lost his leg but he did recall getting engaged two days prior. The little giraffe was proof of that.

Months later, as he dressed to go back to work, he tucked the little giraffe into his jacket pocket as a good luck charm, still missing Anna with every breath. As he filled out the paperwork to request another synthetic after his first MX came to a crushing end, he gently placed the giraffe on top of his computer monitor, a reminder of the life he’d lost.

Days later, he knew the truth. That the life he’d lost had been a gossamer fairy tale. That Anna, his beloved, precious Anna, had been in the alley that day. Maybe even tossed the grenade that took his leg and most of his memories. Still, just like the engraved St. Christopher medal that hung in his cruiser, he left the anamatronic giraffe where he was, not ready to accept the truth just yet.

Anna had loved kids, been amazing with them. John had been thinking of her, her gentle compassion, when he chatted with Victor. He’d thought they’d have the American dream of a white picket fence around a house in the suburbs, keeping their kids inside safe. Instead, he’d been meant to die in an alleyway, at the hand of the woman he still adored. He bent to say farewell to Victor, pressing the tiny giraffe into his hand, grateful to let the reminder go.

“Keep him safe for me, kid.”


End file.
